


Let Me Pick You Up

by ssa_archivist



Category: Smallville
Genre: Humor, M/M, episode-related
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-02-20
Updated: 2003-02-20
Packaged: 2017-11-01 04:57:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/352168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ssa_archivist/pseuds/ssa_archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sequel to "I Let You Down" in which all is explained, including the monkey.<br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	Let Me Pick You Up

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Caro for being my sounding board and hugs and 

## Let Me Pick You Up

by Joyfulgirl41

<http://www.geocities.com/joyfulgirl40/>

* * *

Disclaimer: I own nothing except Steve. He's mine. ((cuddles Steve)) The title is from the song "Let You Down" by the Dave Matthews Band. 

kisses to Stone Princess and Autumnyte for the super quick beta. 

* * *

"Seriously, what's up with the monkey?" 

Lex shook his head. "You really want to hear this now?" he asked. 

Clark raised an eyebrow. "There's a monkey in your office, Lex. Yeah, I want to hear this now." 

"Okay." Lex gestured for Clark to take his seat again. "I was down exploring in the caves one day," he started, unsure of how to tell his tale. It was weird, even for Smallville. "Right after Helen and I had that fight about her working for my father. Then, out of nowhere, this monkey came and bit me." 

"Bit you? Are you all right? Did you see a doctor? You could be sick!" Clark frowned at him. 

Lex smirked a little. "Of course I saw a doctor, Clark. I'm not an idiot. Everything checked out, but here's the weird thing." He leaned forward, bracing his elbows on the desk. "I must have blacked out in the hospital or...no, it wasn't a blackout, because when I was aware again, I was at the mansion with a drink in my hands, but I had no recollection of how I got there." 

"So you blacked out and drove home?" Clark asked, his brow furrowed in confusion. 

"Well, not exactly. Before I went home, I evidently apologized to Helen." Lex said, shaking his head a little. "Gave her some big speech about how I've built walls around my heart or something and how I wanted help breaking them down." 

Clark laughed, his face full of childish amusement. "Because that sounds like something you would say." 

Lex shrugged. "Enough so that she bought it. But like I said, my tests all came back negative, so I'm supposedly healthy." 

"But you don't think you are?" Clark was back to looking confused, now with a touch of concern. 

"I don't know. It hasn't happened again, but I'm keeping the monkey around, just in case. I don't think my little episode was a coincidence." 

Clark shook his head again. "You spaced out after getting bitten by a monkey while exploring some caves in Kansas. How does that happen?" 

Lex smiled. "Try not to think about it too much, Clark. It'll just make your head hurt. Sometimes it's just better to take things at face value." 

"Don't I know it," Clark agreed. "So, are you and Helen still dating then?" he asked with another frown. 

"I'm planning on breaking up with her." Lex smiled. 

"Yeah?" 

Lex nodded. "Something much more promising has just come up." 

Clark gave him a coy look from under his bangs. "No pun intended, right?" 

Lex laughed. "Clark. I'm shocked!" He looked at his watch suddenly, realizing how late it was. "Shit, Clark. I have to go." 

"Where? I thought we might..." Clark trailed off, looking unsure of himself. 

Lex stood up, grabbing his coat. "I'd love to." He walked around the desk to stand in front of Clark. Grabbing the back of Clark's neck, he bent down for a quick, almost vicious kiss. "You have no idea how much I'd love to. But there's something I have to take care of in Edge City." 

"What's in Edge City?" Clark asked as he followed Lex out of the office. 

"Family business, I hope." Lex smiled. "Trust me, Clark. If this is what I think it is--" He tugged on his coat. "I'll explain everything when I get back, I promise." 

"Okay," Clark said. "Just...be careful." 

Lex was about to reply when he found himself wrapped in Clark's arms and being kissed within an inch of his life. "I'll miss you," Clark said as he released him. 

//Damn.// Lex thought. He was almost tempted to cancel his trip, but if what his sources said was true, he had a brother to find. "I'll be back soon," he promised. 

* * *

"You dad opened his home to me, no questions asked." //And I was there for three days and we didn't have sex once.// Lex thought a little bitterly. 

"As long as I live, I don't think I'm ever gonna understand your family," Clark said as he came to stand next to him. 

"Neither will I. Just remember, my father may try and rule the world, but yours will inherit the Earth." 

They were silent for a moment until Clark tilted his head, giving Lex an odd look. "Are you implying that my father is meek?" 

Lex thought about what he had said and laughed. "Never," he said. 'Meek' was the last word he would use to describe Jonathan Kent. He sighed. "It's getting late. I should probably go." 

Clark nodded, studying the house with an enormous amount of concentration before he leaned in for a quick kiss. "Can we get together this weekend?" he asked. 

"Yeah." Lex smiled. "I'd like that a lot." 

"Great," Clark said, giving him a blinding smile. "Goodnight then." 

"Goodnight, Clark." 

* * *

"You know, for someone who is supposed to care about me you've been pretty fucking _absent_ ," Clark said as he stormed into Lex's office. 

Lex didn't look at him, just continued to stare out the window. "How long has it been since the last time we talked, Clark?" he asked softly. 

"Almost a week!" Clark sounded like he was going to cry. 

"A week?" Lex turned around to face Clark. That was...no good. 

"A fucking week, Lex." And Lex had never heard Clark swear before, which meant that him swearing twice in under a minute was probably a bad sign. "A week in which my mom and I almost died!" 

Lex felt the bile rise in his throat. "Die? How, what? Jesus, Clark! What happened? Is everything okay?" He was already picking up his phone, ready to call any specialist in Metropolis that might be needed. 

Clark frowned at him. "Yeah, Lex. Everything is fine now." 

"Are you sure?" Lex asked. "I know specialists. Lots of them." 

"Lex, what the hell is the matter with you?" 

Lex sighed, pointing toward the monkey cage. "It happened again." 

"It?" Clark blinked at him. "You spaced again?" 

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't refer to it as 'spacing,'" he told Clark. 

Clark rolled his eyes. "Yes, because 'having an episode' sounds so much better." 

"Okay, well, whatever it was, it was longer this time. And when I recovered, this was sitting on my desk." Lex indicated a box and a card sitting underneath it. 

//Lex, 

Believe me when I say that I care for you a great deal and if there were anyone in this world that I would give up my ambitions for, it would be you. But I can't let this opportunity pass me by, I can't move in with you. I hope you can understand that. So I'm returning your key. I hope that someday you find someone who can be there for you like I can't. I'm so sorry. 

Helen// 

"You asked her to move in with you!" 

Lex would have laughed at the way Clark's voice cracked, had he not sounded so upset. "I don't remember doing it!" 

"So you were, like, a pod person or something?" Clark asked hopefully. 

"Something like that." Lex smiled. 

"And that's why you completely ignored my family while we were sick?" Clark still had a bit of a kicked puppy dog expression on his face. 

Lex raised an eyebrow. "Clark, you know how much I respect and care for your mother. Do you think that if I had been myself, I would have left the hospital for anything less than _you_ being sick? Do you _really_ think that I wouldn't have been by your side the entire time?" 

"It did seem really weird," Clark said after he had considered that for a moment. "I'm sorry I yelled at you." 

Lex waved the apology away. "The important thing now is to find out what's causing it." 

"I thought you said it was the monkey." 

"Yes, Clark," Lex said patiently. "It think it had something to do with the monkey bite, but I need to pinpoint what exactly that is." 

"Well, how do you propose to do that?" Clark asked. "Do you have a monkey bite specialist waiting in Metropolis?" 

"Oddly enough, I don't." Lex thought he should possibly look into getting one, though. "Follow me." He led Clark down a dark hallway until they reached a door hidden behind a large tapestry. "My father doesn't know this is here," he said as he unlocked the door. They ducked under the tapestry and walked down the dark, spiral staircase. "Welcome to my lab." 

Clark looked around, taking in the room, fully stocked with the most technologically advanced lab instruments that money could buy. Lex was rather proud of his lab. He had been interested in science for as long as he could remember, though he kept that fact well hidden. 

"I took a sample of the monkey's blood after the first incident and I've been running different tests on it. I finally isolated the virus." Lex led Clark over to another table and pointed out the blue liquid in a tiny vial. "I think I've finally come up with an antidote," he said proudly. 

"Okay, first of all, when did you do all this?" Clark asked. "And is it even _possible_ to have an antidote for a virus?" 

Lex sighed. "What did I tell you about asking questions, Clark?" 

"Oh." Clark nodded. "Right. Sorry. So how will you know if it works?" 

"Well," Lex said. "I also created this test." He held up a strip of paper. "Twenty-four hours after I take the antidote, I'll put a blood sample on this paper, and if it turns green, that means it worked." 

"And then no more pod-Lex?" 

Lex laughed. "No more pod-Lex," he promised. Then turned to stare at the vial. 

"So. Are you gonna take it?" Clark finally asked. 

"Yeah. I guess so." Lex nodded. "No time like the present." 

"Are you sure it's safe?" 

"Of course," Lex said, sounding much more confident than he felt. "Cheers." He tossed the liquid back, grimacing at the taste. 

"Now?" 

Lex sighed. "Now we wait." 

* * *

"Well?" Clark asked as he entered Lex's office. 

"Well," Lex said, holding the paper in front of him. "I have something to tell you." He didn't miss the worried look that passed over Clark's face. 

Clark sat down in the chair across from him. "What?" 

He turned the paper around so Clark could see the green spot. "I'm pregnant." 

Clark scowled at him. "You're funny." 

Lex laughed. "Lighten up, Clark. I'm better!" 

"Are you sure?" Clark gave him a distrustful look. "You're not going to go asking any other strange women to move in with you?" 

"Promise," Lex said, standing up and walking over to the monkey cage. "I even gave Steve here a shot. So he's better too." 

"Steve? Who names a monkey Steve?" 

"I was going to name him George, but it seemed so cliche. I think Steve suits him," Lex said. 

"You're going to keep him?" Clark asked doubtfully. 

"It's either that or release him back out into the wilds of Smallville." Lex shrugged. "I've kind of gotten used to having the little guy around." 

"You're so weird," Clark said, wrapping his arms around Lex's waist and resting his chin lightly on Lex's shoulder as they watched Steve swinging around happily in his cage. 

"Pot, meet kettle," Lex said dryly. 

Clark snorted. "Whatever." 

"Alien." 

"Pod boy." 

**THE END**


End file.
